I’m sitting at my desk looking out the window at a sprinkle of rain falling, a chilly and somewhat dreary day.

While winter is a necessary precursor to spring, I still wish we could skip these dark days of December and advance to February and some milder weather. You know the kind of day I’m wishing for. Sunny, brisk, slight wind, no chop on the lake and plenty of fish just waiting for me to catch them.

Enough of that.

As we all know the water conditions lately have varied from merely stained to so muddy that you could almost walk on it. This combined with erratic weather has essentially shut down most areas lakes.

Recently, as I visited area boat landings I was disappointed to find that despite a wonderful day the ramps were still nearly empty. Those anglers I spoke to did not report any significant improvement in the catch over the last several weeks.

Even the most steady of our local quarry, the catfish, seems to be on vacation.

It appears that these have shut down for the winter. Look forward over the next several weeks to more of the same despite the fact that most lakes have now started to come back from the erratic weather.

The good news is that things will improve as the water continues to clear.

Moving into the new year the bite should come back on largemouth bass. Normally the colder mid winter weather will improve the action with striped bass as well.

In general water stability (level and temperature) will improve making the chance of a full live well much greater.

As this will be my last column of 2018 I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays.

Hearing from an old friend who’d been out of contact for some years, I was reminded of the blessings I have in my life. This person has experienced medical problems and was in need of bare necessities that sometimes are taken for granted.

A trip to the grocery store by my fishing buddy and a call to a church in the friend’s hometown helped this family and blessed both my wife and I to no end.

I know it’s very cliché, but it really is more blessed to give than to receive.

Fishin’ tip of the week: Remember to keep your equipment in a ready condition so when that warm January day arrives you can hit the lake and fill the cooler.
Until next year … thanks and good fishin’!

Larry Hunter writes a fishing column for The Stanly News & Press.